How to Enrol with AUSTRAC: A Step-by-Step Guide for New Reporting Entities

8 min read · General information, not legal advice · Updated 2026-06-12

You have worked out that your firm is becoming a reporting entity. Maybe you run a real estate agency, a conveyancing practice, an accounting firm or a law practice, or you deal in precious metals or stones, and you now provide one of the designated services that bring you into Australia's AML/CTF regime under Tranche 2. The first concrete thing on your list is to enrol with AUSTRAC — and you are staring at AUSTRAC Online wondering where to start.

This guide walks you through enrolment from end to end: what enrolment actually is, who has to do it, the steps to take in AUSTRAC Online, what to have ready beforehand, and the mistakes that trip people up. The aim is to get you from 'I think I need to enrol' to a completed, defensible enrolment without guesswork. This is general information, not legal advice, and your precise obligations depend on the specific designated services you provide.

What AUSTRAC enrolment actually is

Enrolment is how you tell AUSTRAC who you are and that your business provides designated services. AUSTRAC is the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre — the regulator for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing. Enrolment is done online, through the secure portal known as AUSTRAC Online, which is the same system you will later use to lodge your reports.

It helps to be clear about what enrolment is and is not. Enrolment puts your business on AUSTRAC's reporting entity roll and gives you access to AUSTRAC Online. It is not the same as building your AML/CTF program, and it does not, by itself, make you compliant. Enrolling is one of several core obligations a reporting entity carries; it sits alongside developing an AML/CTF program, conducting customer due diligence, reporting suspicious matters and threshold transactions, keeping records, and appointing an AML/CTF compliance officer.

In plain terms: enrolment is the door you walk through. What you do once inside — the program, the due diligence, the reporting — is the substance of being compliant.

Who has to enrol, and when

Tranche 2 refers to the reforms under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Act 2024, which extend Australia's AML/CTF regime to new sectors often called 'tranche 2 entities'. The new obligations for these entities are due to commence on 1 July 2026.

You are likely a reporting entity that needs to enrol if you fall into one of these groups and you provide specified designated services:

• Real estate professionals involved in property transactions.
• Dealers in precious metals and precious stones.
• Certain professional service providers — lawyers, conveyancers, accountants, and trust and company service providers.

The trigger is the designated service, not your job title. A firm only becomes a reporting entity when it provides one of the specified services, so two practices in the same profession can have different obligations depending on the work they actually do. Before you enrol, map your services against the designated services list so you enrol on the right basis. As the AUSTRAC rules are finalised, expect more sector-specific detail on exactly when and how enrolment applies to your situation.

What to have ready before you start

Enrolment goes much faster when the details are in front of you rather than chased mid-form. Gather these before you log in:

• Your business identifiers — legal entity name, trading or business names, ABN and ACN where applicable.
• Business structure details — whether you are a sole trader, partnership, company or trust, and the relevant entity information.
• Contact details — registered business address, postal address, phone and email.
• The designated services you provide — the specific services that make you a reporting entity, mapped against the designated services list.
• Your AML/CTF compliance officer (AMLCO) — the named, accountable person responsible for your program, and their contact details.
• Key personnel details — the people AUSTRAC needs to know about for your entity type.
• A nominated portal contact — the person who will administer your AUSTRAC Online account and receive correspondence.

Having your AMLCO decided before you enrol matters: appointing a compliance officer is a core obligation in its own right, and you do not want to nominate a placeholder you later have to change.

The step-by-step enrolment walk-through

Enrolment is a sequence, not a single click. Work through it in this order:

• Step 1 — Confirm you are in scope. Check that you provide one or more designated services and are genuinely a reporting entity. Enrolling on the wrong basis creates problems later.
• Step 2 — Go to AUSTRAC Online. Start at austrac.gov.au and follow the enrolment pathway into the AUSTRAC Online portal.
• Step 3 — Set up your portal access. Create the account and nominate the person who will administer it. This contact manages users and receives AUSTRAC communications.
• Step 4 — Enter your business details. Complete the enrolment form with your entity, structure, ABN/ACN, addresses and contacts. Take care with the legal entity name so it matches your registration.
• Step 5 — Declare your designated services. Identify the services that bring you into the regime. This is the heart of the enrolment, so map carefully.
• Step 6 — Provide your AMLCO and key personnel. Record your compliance officer and any other people AUSTRAC requires for your entity type.
• Step 7 — Review and submit. Check every field, confirm the declarations, and submit. Keep a copy or screenshot of your submission for your records.
• Step 8 — Keep your details current. After enrolment, update AUSTRAC Online whenever your details change — new services, a new AMLCO, a change of address or contact.

As the AUSTRAC rules are finalised, the exact fields and screens may be refined. Treat the sequence above as the shape of the task and follow the current on-screen guidance in AUSTRAC Online for the specifics.

Timing: don't leave it to the last week

The headline date is 1 July 2026, when new obligations for tranche 2 entities are due to commence. It is tempting to treat enrolment as a one-hour job you can do in late June, but that underestimates the work around it.

Enrolment itself is the quick part. The slow parts are everything enrolment assumes you have already decided: which designated services you provide, who your AMLCO is, and how your business is structured for AUSTRAC's purposes. If those are unsettled, the form stalls. There is also a practical reason to act early — getting your AUSTRAC Online access set up in good time means you are not scrambling for portal credentials when your first reporting obligation arrives.

A sensible approach is to settle your in-scope services and appoint your AMLCO first, then enrol with confidence, and then build out the rest of your AML/CTF program. Enrolling early does not lock you in a corner; you can keep your details current as your arrangements firm up.

Common mistakes to avoid

New reporting entities tend to stumble on the same points:

• Treating enrolment as the finish line. Enrolling does not make you compliant. You still need an AML/CTF program, customer due diligence, reporting and record-keeping in place.
• Guessing your designated services. Declaring the wrong services — or all of them to be safe — misrepresents your basis for enrolment. Map your actual services first.
• Mismatched legal entity details. A trading name where the legal entity name belongs, or an ABN that does not match, causes avoidable rejections and delays.
• Nominating a placeholder AMLCO. Your compliance officer needs real authority and should be the genuine appointee, not a name added to get the form submitted.
• Letting details go stale. Your obligation to keep AUSTRAC Online current does not stop after enrolment. New services or a new compliance officer must be updated.
• Waiting until late June 2026. A rushed enrolment built on undecided fundamentals is where errors creep in — and serious AML/CTF failures can attract significant civil and criminal penalties.

A faster path once you are enrolled

Enrolment is just the first of your core obligations, and the larger task waiting on the other side is building your AML/CTF program — governance, an ML/TF risk assessment, and the policies, procedures, systems and controls your staff follow. You do not have to write all of that from a blank page. A well-built, audit-ready template kit gives you the program structure and supporting registers, so your effort goes into tailoring it to your firm rather than inventing the format. That turns a multi-week build into a focused tailoring exercise while still producing something that reflects your actual business.

Whichever route you take, the substance is what counts. Enrol on the correct basis, keep your details current, and make sure your program maps to the designated services you actually provide. This article is general information and not legal advice, and your obligations depend on the specific designated services you provide. Confirm the detail with AUSTRAC at austrac.gov.au or a qualified adviser before you finalise anything.